People said I was crazy for starting the series with FF1 8ish years ago. I have loved watching FF grow from the very first game and experiencing all the different things they tried. Glad I’m not the only one who appreciates the oldies!
This review was very helpful. I really glad you recommend it. I played this with boosts and felt the same. I only turned them on because of time. Looking forward to future videos!
The modern conveniences actually make this very playable, it was a lot of fun to go back and experience this in a much fresher way than slogging through the NES original!
I played this game too this weekend and I was really surprised how good it was. This Pixel Remaster is so well made. I love the new music and the boosts make for a less grindy experience. And I agree with you: it's big! (I never played the original). I was expecting something basic like FF Adventure.
Played the original on the NES back in the day, I spent a lot of time grinding to level up my characters. The boosts get rid of that entirely and I can certainly appreciate that now in my old age where time isn't the luxury it once was lol
I played FF1 on the US NES when it was new in the summer of 1990 and it absolutely blew me away. The music, the artwork, the grinding were all fun. Pixel Remaster was cool, but i prefer the original.
Glad you enjoyed it. The GBA version of FF1 was my first JRPG and I think it still looks really beautiful with an snes art style and soundtrack - shame they didn’t give the option for this release. To date, it’s the only FF game I’ve finished and enjoyed all the way through!
You know I played this when it first came out and have beaten it many more times since then. I would say if you’re a first timer, don’t feel bad at all for using guides because when we bought it it pretty much had a guide. It literally had an almost 90 page manual that took you through the game and it came with a big poster that had maps of all the dungeons. However, I would say that you’re definitely missing out by using all those boosts, but so long as you had a good time that’s all that matters.
FF1 is such a great, fun game! I've found that as I've gotten older, if there's an easy mode, boost, or guide, I'm going to use it. I don't have very much time to play games, so when I do, I just want to have a good time.
Solid review! I love the honesty lol I’m the same way. With JRPGs, I’m in it for the adventure and story, not the challenge. Although with the survival horror, Im all about the challenge lol
You shouldn’t feel like you need to “confess” to using boosts. Most of us OG NES players use a glitch that lets us fight nothing but Kyozoku fights at the start of the game (a mob that drops ~8x the gil that it should) then we head to the Power Peninsula where the game accidentally spawns endgame mobs so you can level up in a single fight. Sounds kind of like just boosting gil and exp, doesn’t it? Great review. I wish I could enjoy these remasters as much as the original because I really do like the updated graphics and sound. My main problem with them is that the so-called modern quality of life improvements ruin the gameplay for me. A lot of people like to rag on the “Ineffective” results you get in the original when a character was assigned to attack a mob that already died. This was a feature, not a bug. The original game came with a gigantic chart with all the enemies listed including their HP. You were meant to plan your attacks well so as to not waste actions. Another thing that modern players love is the ability to buy Phoenix Downs, Ethers, and Hi Potions. In the original, there was only Potion. Again, this was intended as it limited the resources you had available going into a dungeon because there was NO saving once you entered. I’ll acknowledge that these probably aren’t the best ways to challenge players. The fact that most people consider them annoying is pretty convincing evidence that it was poor game design. But if you ever get the itch to play FF1 again, I highly suggest trying out the NES original just to get a feel for what it was really like.
I just beat this game and I really appreciated the boosts. I grew up playing old school RPGs, but as an adult I've gotten really tired of the random battles and exp grinding.
I never finished the NES version of FF1 but finished it later on GBA with a graphical lift and iirc mana instead of spell slots. I've got the pixel remaster physical coming, so I'll play it again then, and I'll be turning on all the exp and money boosters 😂 I really don't feel like grinding my way through that game again 😅 I never got far on FF2, and it's so different, but I really liked FF3. I also really liked the job system in FF5, and I personally like FF5's story more than FF4, though I know I'm in the minority there 😅 FF6 is my favourite FF, so I'm really looking forward to playing that again 😊
i was a kid when NES came out, but it wasn't until secret of mana and chrono trigger that i became an RPG fan, but still struggled to get into turn based until FF 7. I have sense went back and played all but FF1 over the years. FF1 is literally the last one for me haha
Fantastic review and I completely agree, I need to play this game as a JRPG fan. I appreciate the heads up about this. I’m hoping to jump in before the years out.
I know you said you weren't comparing, but Final Fantasy 1 came out in December 87. It openly took a lot from Dragon Quest 2, which came out on January 87. Those 2 are where you can look historically where RPGs evolved.
@femtrooper Totally get it, and I feel the same. I also feel that DQ is very underrated in the West and doesn't get enough credit for what it innovated. AFAIK, the first JRPG party system was in DQ 2 and FF1 openly took from it, the first JRPG class system was in DQ 3 and FF3 took from it 2 years later, DQ 4 was the first massive JRPG story and FF4 took a year before it released, and DQ 5 was the first JRPG epic (and first monster tamer) and FF6 had 2 years before release. I think it makes sense to compare them for these reasons since Sakaguchi admitted taking a lot from DQ. Hopefully, this brain dump helps with something for content on your end. 😆
The new soundtrack is pretty amazing for VI. Some of the best sound work in Final Fantasy imo. I did play Final Fantasy 1 on the PS1, and i did have a little nostalgia for it. I bought it and played a little and kept it for a couple years and then finally pushed through it although that was quite some time ago. I really loved playing it for the first time, it was still so magical for me back then.
Found your channel just now. I appreciate your review a lot. I’ve played games for years but I consider myself a “casual gamer.” I beat the games for the stories, I don’t really care to get every single trophy/achievement. I also don’t play on the hardest difficulty myself, because I can get frustrated and it loses the joy of gaming for me. Appreciate your honesty with how you approach games. I think people can get too competitive about it, and it kills the vibe. I’ve seen people get bashed for playing on “easy” or “medium.” You enjoyed it, had fun, and now I plan to buy it! Subscribed 😎
Woo, I’m glad that you enjoyed it! I’ve got my hopes up about you enjoying FF2 even more. You’ll get your personalities and a more intricate story there.
Just about to finish it. I played the game here and there at friends houses back in the late 80s/early 90s, but had no idea what to do. Even retrying it in the late 90s with a few RPGs under my belt, it was too hard. In 2024, the pixel remaster is archaic, but not too bad when you turn off random battles and speed things up. I couldn't imagine playing the original NES version now though, particularly since the characters will attack air if they've all been assigned to an enemy that gets taken out early. No shame in using a guide, as relying on word of mouth, magazines, and tip lines were considered vital to completing RPG/adventure games back then.
Played the original back in the late 80s and the DS version some 15 years ago, there is a Renaissance version out now with bug fixes and 10 additional jobs that I'm having a ton of fun with now.
About the soundtrack, I didn't hate the new music, but I was REALLY spoiled by the fantastic orchestrated soundtrack in the PSP and previous smartphone releases. They're fantastic!
thanks for the video. just about every review for the pixel remasters is more general and not in depth, so it's good to see one like this. The pixel remasters are pretty great in general but they do have this stutter when scrolling that I don't seem many people talking about. It's not a hardware thing because it's like this on PC, PS5, and switch. Apparently there are mods to smooth it out on PC but console gamers are SOL. Anyway, the stutter when scrolling that's in all six of the games really really bothers me and bothers some other people too. Once you see it you can't unsee it. Great review though
Found your channel just now. I appreciate your review a lot. I’ve played games for years but I consider myself a “casual gamer.” I beat the games for the stories, I don’t really care to get every single trophy/achievement. I also don’t play on the hardest difficulty myself, because I can get frustrated and it loses the joy of gaming for me. Appreciate your honesty with how you approach games. I think people can get too competitive about it, and it kills the vibe. I’ve seen people get bashed for playing on “easy” or “medium.” You enjoyed it, had fun, and now I plan to buy it! Subscribed 😎
Once I'm finished with Dragon's Dogma and Ghostwire Tokyo, I should find my old NES strategy guide and use it when playing this. I've beaten this game twice, the original NES and then the Vita version many years later. I just got the FF DOT art book today and my palms are itching.
Nice too see a chick review this game. Final Fantasy is an all timer. Men & women are def different. It's not a bad thing like people thing. Enjoyed her review.
Saying you owe it yourself as a final fantasy fan is something I also say. I feel the same way with ff, I’ve played everything from 6 and above, I feel I owe it to myself to go back and experience 1-5
Currently playing through this with boosts on as well. In my opinion the game would be a grind fest without it. Things are pretty expensive and you end up having to buy things constantly whether it’s tents or antidotes or weapons. FF1 isn’t exactly story heavy so I don’t think I’m missing much. I’ve got 5 other titles to get through for this remaster lol
Yeah, I agree! It’s not a big deal and it’s a great way to experience the game! Go for it! I played with the boosts! The more I think about it I don’t care lol it’s a video game lol live your best life!
I really want to get the pixel remaster series but it's so gosh darn expensive. I've never played any FF games and I was born in 86 so I have no real excuse. I have played and love the Dragon quest series and romancing saga... FF is on my list of must plays. I like hearing there are qol updates. Like you I don't have time to grind endlessly or really enjoy grinding all that much so this is great news! Thanks for your review!
I love the Snes, PS1 and PS2 FF games, but the NES games were very forgettable to me atleast. But it was nice to see first hand how the series has evovled from game to game. I bought the games physically aswell but I bought it from FF4, FF5 and FF6. If you just want an easy time with these games I think having double amount of EXP and Gil is enough.
I played the original 8-bit version back in the day…I prefer the orchestrated music and I used the experience booster too. Who has time to do that grinding these days?
Would you mind if I jump in promoting my lets play of this? I'll delete this comment otherwise. I completely agree that the pixel version is incredible. Such an improvement over the ps1 version.
I liked my time with it and only the last boss did give me some trouble until i saw online you could stack the boost you can give the warrior, then it was easy. Impressive game for the time, loved playing it.
Ff1 is a masterpiece. I feel like I see alot of people slagging it off these days but to me its a top 5 ff game and is the one I go back to play the most out of any in the series. Super fun game, great soundtrack, even the original nes version is still great and provides a great challenge and cannot be mindlessly mashed through.
@@femtrooper I too was surprised by how it was more epic than DQ1. I enjoyed it. I thought it was fun. I'm not an RPG person but it reminded me of the 2d pokemon from the 90s. It was fun
So glad you took the chance to play the original! I played FF1 quite a bit in my childhood but honestly I'm not sure how far I'd get if I popped it in my NES today, it's probably more of a nostalgic thing for me at this point. It's wonderful they remastered the game for people today who have never played it!
I would love to get my hands on a physical copy of this. I have mixed feelings about remakes but in this case bringing a collection from so long ago is exactly the right way to do it
I am not interested in this game, but does the boosts work for FF4 and 6? I want to try out those games more so than anyother FF game before 7, not really interested in the series but I want to experience the story of FF6 especially.
I just checked the games' descriptions on Nintendo. Both games come with the exp boost and the no random battle option. I highly recommend giving those games a chance.
Awesome, glad you had fun with this entry! FF1 on the NES was the first in the series that I got into. When you say OG NES games are hard, you are NOT kidding! So glad they've fixed so many of the bugs of this original version, too.
Hey Paige! Thanks for the review, it is nice to see that even if it's your first time you enjoy it. For my part, I did play it back then on the nes and I did play the Pixel remaster on the PC, even though the option of upgrading the xp and money is not there on PC, the game is still easier than the original, but still is a lot of fun!
I’m still looking for this one. I just don’t want to pay up for it since I know I won’t get to it any time soon. I’d love to go back and play the originals again. Glad you liked it.
Good review, it is interesting to hear a newcomer's perspective on this game. It was the first RPG I ever finished, so my views on it are biased, but I love how open the characters are. It allows you to project any personality you want on them, which can be really fun. There is an old web comic called 8-bit Theater that really shows just how far that can get you with a little inagination. The music for the Remasters WAS done by an actual orchestra, with some additional instruments recorded remotely.
